Track and field: Coin flip could decide who gets 100 berth

Eugene, Ore. – Who receives the third women's 100-meter spot on the U.S. Olympic team could come down to a matter of heads or tails.

USA Track and Field officials announced Sunday that Allyson Felix and Jeneba Tarmoh, who finished in a dead heat for the third and final spot in the U.S. Olympic Trials 100 final Saturday, have a choice of breaking the deadlock by a runoff or coin toss.

If Felix and Tarmoh, who both train under Bob Kersee, choose the same option, that option will be used to settle the matter. A runoff will be held if one of the athletes chooses a coin toss and the other a runoff. Any runoff would have to take place by next Sunday, USATF spokeswoman Jill Geer said.

Should the runoff also finish in a dead heat the third spot would then be determined by a coin toss, Geer said.

The logistics of a runoff will be decided by Benita Fitzgerald-Mosley, USATF's chief of sport performance, although Geer said she expects it to be held here at Hayward Field.

GATLIN BACK

Justin Gatlin is heading back to the Olympics eight years after he won the Olympic 100-meter title.

Gatlin continued his comeback from a four-year doping ban by winning the Trials 100-meter final Sunday with a 9.80 clocking.

"Usually, I have a lot of words. I'm almost speechless," Gatlin said. "Everything just feels so surreal. I just let the heart really go out and do what it had to do."

Gatlin will be joined in London by superstar Tyson Gay and unknown Ryan Bailey.

Gay, who has been hampered by injuries in recent seasons, finished in 9.86. Bailey, who went to high school an hour up Interstate 5 in Salem, Ore., edged Michael Rodgers for the third spot — 9.93 to 9.94.

RECORD TIED

Sanya Richards-Ross tied the Trials meet record in winning the women's 400 in 49.28. The record was first set by Chandra Cheeseborough at the 1984 Trials in Los Angeles.

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